


Can I be close to you?

by ifzi0531



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: just a short fluffy story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-09
Updated: 2014-06-09
Packaged: 2018-02-04 00:47:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,117
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1761045
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ifzi0531/pseuds/ifzi0531
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Zayn turns his head to face Niall. “Sorry, you were saying something?” He asks, clearly did not hear anything about what Niall had blurted out. </p><p>Niall feels his cheeks flustered, not knowing to be glad or disappointed that Zayn didn’t hear him. “No, no. I was just saying that the class today feels kinda hot. Must be a problem with A/C or something.” He replies, and he can literally imagine Louis is rolling his eyes from the other side at his stupid comments.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Can I be close to you?

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by this [picture](http://niallhoranisasecretfurby.tumblr.com/post/88076615031/dirxctioner5va-this-looks-like-niall-and-louis) on tumblr. :D 
> 
> A/N: This story was literally written in one-shot, taken about an hour, not really beta'ed and I apologize in advance if it's not good. Just had an itchy to write one-shot :D

“Admit it!” 

“No!” 

“Say it!” 

“No!” Niall replies breathlessly, swatting Louis’s hand away from his waist as the other guy is tickling him. “Louis!!” He whines miserably. 

Louis laughs, still pinning Niall on the floor, tickling the other boy. “Say it now! Or you won’t escape me!” He threatens with a big smile on his face. 

Niall laughs as Louis keeps tickling him, but at the same time he knows he can’t endure another tickles attack or he will pee in his pants. “Alright! Alright! I like Zayn Malik!” He says between his gasp of laughter. 

Louis laughs. “Louder!” 

“I like Zayn Malik!” Niall half shout, staring at Louis. “Pleaseeee…can you let me go now…” He pleads with his big blue eyes, gazing at the older boy helplessly. 

Louis chuckles before he nods, satisfied with Niall’s answer. Then he rolls around to lay beside Niall on the floor, as they both staring at the ceiling. “When are you going to tell him that you like him?” He asks.

Niall almost chokes on his breath at Louis’s question. “I won’t tell him anything. It’s just a crush.” He tells the other boy.

Louis snorts. “Says you!” He points out. “I say you’re head over heels over this guy.” He adds, rolling his body to his left to look at the other boy. 

Niall groans, shaking his head. “No….” 

“Yes….” Louis mimics Niall’s tone, earning a slight glare from the blonde-haired boy, making Louis laughs out loud. Niall’s glare is not scary at all, in fact, it makes the other boy looks cuter. “If you won’t tell him, I will.” He says. 

Niall sits up abruptly before he glances down to face Louis. “You wouldn’t dare!” 

Louis grins cheekily, raising his eyebrows. “I would. You know me.” He jokes. 

Niall groans again, shaking his head. “I hate you.” He mutters under his breath and Louis laughs out loud again.

**************

It’s a normal day, for both Louis and Niall as they enter the class. Niall steals a glance on the back rows, hoping that he can see the usual face but feels slightly disappointed when the guy that he is looking for is not there yet. And he is still not in the class five minutes after the class starts.

Niall sighs in disappointment. He was hoping that he can ease his Monday blues by seeing the guy’s face but apparently he has no luck today. He pulls out his notebook, and starts to doodle on the notebook. He flustered slightly when he sees his own handwriting, and most of the contents of the notebook consist of Zayn’s name, the guy that he admires from afar. He knows Zayn is out of his league. That guy is basically goddess. 

“Is this seat taken?” 

Niall snaps his head up at the familiar voice, instinctively closing his notebook before he glances up. And he can feel his breath is knocked out of his lung as he sees the guy that he admires for couple of weeks, is standing beside his seat. 

“Sorry, the back row is filled up. If this seat is taken, then I can sit on the other end.” Zayn says, and Niall is still blinking disbelievingly as he stares at the gorgeous boy. He is too speechless to say anything so he just shakes his head, hoping that the other boy would understand that no, that seat is totally empty. 

Zayn nods before he starts to sit down on Niall’s left, and Niall can feel his heart stops when the other boy is giving him a small smile before he turns his attention to the professor, who is still talking at front of the class. Niall glances slightly on his right, and Louis is grinning so wide at him, and Niall has to put his hand on his mouth to cover his happy giggles. Zayn Malik is sitting beside him. And talk to him! This day is definitely going down in Niall’s life history. 

“Could I borrow your pen?” 

And again, Niall is left speechless as he turns his head to see Zayn is looking at him, and asking him to borrow his pen. Is this real? Is he dreaming? “Sorry, I left mine at home.” Zayn continues, and Niall blinks his eyes out of his reverie, blushing furiously, hoping that the other guy wouldn’t notice. He pulls out his extra pen and hands it shyly to Zayn, and almost has a heart attack when their hands brush slightly when he passes the pen.

**************

It happens again the next day.

And the next day. 

It’s like the luck is in Niall’s side because every time Zayn arrives at the class, the back row is already filled and the other guy will always end up sitting beside Niall. 

Niall doesn’t mind though. They exchange smiles now, and for Niall, it is enough to brighten up his day. But for Louis, it is not enough and the lad keeps bugging Niall to start having a real conversation with Zayn but Niall dismisses the idea. He is just too shy and he is afraid that Zayn would not talk to him again because of his idiotic clumsiness. And that comments earned him a flick on his forehead from Louis but the other lad stops bugging him about it, at least for now. 

“You smell good.” Zayn comments suddenly, startling Niall out of his daydreaming. 

“Thanks.” Niall replies shyly, not really knowing that to say. He blushes when his eyes catch on Zayn’s, who is staring at him and he can feel Louis is kicking his feet from the right side. Niall tries his best to remain cool as Zayn starts to pay attention to the front again. Stay calm, Niall, he tells himself as he steals a glance on his left, admiring the other boy’s profile. Zayn looks hot at the moment (when he is not?) and Niall is biting his tongue from blurting out something that he knows he would regret. He tries to shift his attention to the professor in front of the class, but before he knows it, his tongue is betraying his mind. “You’re hot,” he blurts out. 

Zayn turns his head to face Niall. “Sorry, you were saying something?” He asks, clearly did not hear anything about what Niall had blurted out. 

Niall feels his cheeks flustered, not knowing to be glad or disappointed that Zayn didn’t hear him. “No, no. I was just saying that the class today feels kinda hot. Must be a problem with A/C or something.” He replies, and he can literally imagine Louis is rolling his eyes from the other side at his stupid comments. 

Zayn smiles and nods, before he starts to pay attention the professor again, like they all are supposed to do.

**************

“Tell me again why are you dragging me here?” Niall whines as he trails behind Louis, following the other lad’s move until they reach the field at the campus. Apparently, Louis had wanted to come to the place to meet the boy that he has been dating for two weeks (Niall had been pouty since his bestfriend did not tell him earlier but Louis said he was shy and yes, Niall had accepted that excuse because he just can’t stay mad at Louis).

“I told you, I want you to meet my boyfriend, plus he’s bringing his roommate too, so this is kinda like a group hangout.” Louis explains, his eyes start to roam around until his face breaks into a smile. “Harry! Over here!” He calls out, waving his hand. 

Niall squints his eyes, watching as a tall boy is coming towards their spot, smiling brightly at both of them. “Hi!! I’m Harry!” 

Niall smiles, the guy has a dimple and his smile is beautiful, and no wonder Louis is falling for him. “Hi.” Niall greets, extending his hand to shake Harry’s hand but he is pulled into a hug instead. 

“Sorry, you don’t mind right?” Harry asks once they pull away. “I like hugging people.” He adds with a grin, earning a coo from Louis before they both start to kiss. 

Niall clears his throat after a while, feeling like a third wheel all of sudden. Louis and Harry pull away, both sheepishly smile at Niall, and mumbles their “sorry.” 

“My friend is on his way.” Harry says as he checks on his phone. They don’t have to wait long when suddenly a familiar figure is approaching their spot and Niall eyes widen. 

“Hey! Zayn!” Louis greets, a little too friendly as he nudges Niall, breaking him out of his reverie. How small is this world? It seems like Harry, who is Louis’s boyfriend, is Zayn’s roommate, who is Niall’s crush. And yes, what a small _small_ world. 

They all decide to hang at the beach, and Harry leads their way to his car, and suggesting for them to put their bags in the trunk. When all of them throw their bags, Niall notices that Zayn is having a similar backpack as him and he looks at the other guy. Apparently, Zayn notices the same too. “Great minds think alike, huh?” Zayn says, smiling slightly before he moves to enter the passenger side of the car. 

“Aw, destined to be together.” Louis singsongs from behind and Niall glares at him, knowing that Louis must’ve heard. And of course, that earns a loud laugh from Louis before he pulls Niall’s arm to enter Harry’s car with him. 

They spend couple of hours, hanging around the beach and doesn’t even realize that it is close to midnight until Niall starts to yawn, his eyes watering. Then, they all decide to call the night out, and Niall is half-asleep by the time they got into the car. He doesn’t even realize how he manages to get out, but he remembers waving all of them off, before he enters his block, luckily manages to find his room before he plops down on his bed, falling asleep instantly.

**************

Being procrastinated is really bad for Niall, since he just realizes that it is already Sunday and he still hasn’t finish his essay yet. Lazily, he grabs his backpack on the chair and starts to open it, cursing slightly when he feels pure laziness as he thinks about the work that he needs to finish by the night.

He starts to pull out the books from his bag and frowns when he reads the unfamiliar titles. All of the books are definitely not his and he feels confused for a second before he realizes what is happening. He had mistakenly taken Zayn’s bag! 

Quickly, he reaches for his phone and starts to dial the familiar number. “Louis!!! I’m officially dead!! Oh my God, please kill me now!!” Niall says frantically through the phone once Louis picks up the call. 

“Whoa, calm down there.” Louis says from the other end. “What happened? Are you okay? Are you hurt?” He asks in concern, his brotherly instincts kicks in naturally. 

Niall shakes his head, before he realizes that Louis can’t see him at the moment. “I..bag….Zayn…oh my god…” he says between the gasps, starting to feel panic attack creeping in. 

“Hey! Hey! Calm down. Take a deep breath.” Louis says and Niall obeys, trying to calm his heart down. When Louis notices that the other boy’s breath is sounding normal again, he starts to speak up. “Okay, now, tell me. In full sentence. What happened?” 

And so Niall spills the story from the start until the moment he called the other boy. “Oh my God, Louis…what if he reads my notebook..” he trails off nervously.

Louis chuckles at the other end and Niall feels like he wants to cry. “Don’t laugh at me,” he says, his tone must be come across as upset when the other boy stops laughing and clears his throat. 

“Look, Niall. You don’t need to worry. I’m sure he won’t open your notebook.” Louis assures. 

Niall hums, not really sure if he can believe Louis or not, but he promises to himself that he would not find out and would send Louis to get his bag from Zayn instead for the next day.

**************

Unfortunately, Louis has another idea, which involves literally dragging Niall out of the bed and gets them both to the class. It ends up with Niall pouting along the way until they reach the campus. Once they enter the class, it is already filled up with people, not so surprisingly since they are both quite late (due to Niall’s tantrum for refusing to get out of the bed), but surprisingly, Zayn is already there, sitting on his usual seat besides Niall’s.

Niall swallows nervously as he looks up and sees Zayn, and when their eyes meet, Niall thinks that the other boy is blushing slightly but it could be just his imagination. Slowly, he drags his feet towards his seat, and nervously handing out the backpack to Zayn. “Sorry, I took the wrong bag. I was planning to return it on weekend but I didn’t have your number,” he apologizes. 

Zayn nods, clearing his throat as he gazes at Niall. “It’s okay..Um,..I just…,” he stammers. “I’m sorry too.”

Niall raises his eyebrows confusingly. “For what? It was me that Harry had dropped first, so it was my fault for getting the wrong bag from the car.” 

“I read your notebook.” 

And that’s when Niall’s life is flashing right before his eyes and he can hear Louis gasping dramatically from behind him. “Oh my God, I’m so sorry you had to see that I just..” Niall rambles, trying to explain himself. 

“I found my name a lot in your notebook.”

And Niall literally wants the ground to swallow him at the moment. How much more embarrassment that he can take? “Sorry!” He apologizes, before he starts to walk around Zayn to get out of the class. He can’t be there at the moment. Where the other guy had known about his small notes of the guy in his notebook. Why is he so stupid to write all his little dreams in the notebook? He can’t move another step when he feels someone grabs his arm and turns him around. “Zayn, what are you doing? Let me go..” He says, too embarrassed to face the other boy. 

“Why?” Zayn asks, staring at the blond. 

“Because of what I wrote all in my notebook…that I….” Niall stammers, too overwhelmed to speak at the moment. 

“That you like me?” 

Niall nods helplessly, staring at the ground instead of facing the other boy. He wants to die. 

“Please don’t die.” Zayn says and Niall’s eyes widen. He must be saying that out loud. Oh my god, someone please kills him now. 

“I’m so sorry. I promise I won’t do again. I won’t bother you again.” 

Zayn smiles at the babbling boy, shaking his head. “So you don’t like me?” 

“No, I like you! But..” Niall quickly says before his eyes widen again, realizing on his mistake. He can feel his heart pounding and his cheeks are so hot that he feels like it could boil the egg. “This is so embarrassing…” He mutters, trying to let his arm free from Zayn’s grip, but apparently the other boy has another idea when he pulls Niall closer to him. 

“You know what? I like you too.” Zayn says, smiling gently at the other boy. 

Niall shakes his head. “Please…don’t lie to me like that……” He pleads. Zayn Malik likes him? Not a chance. But when Zayn is staring right into his eyes, Niall can feel his heart starts to wonder if the other boy is telling him the truth. 

“I’m not lying, Niall.” Zayn says, bending down slightly to pull out his notebook from his backpack on the table. “Have you seen my notebook?” He asks. 

Niall shakes his head. “I thought..you’re always bring it but I notice you didn’t like other people to snoop on what you’re writing so..”

Zayn smiles again, shaking his head fondly. “You’re so cute, you know that.” 

Niall blushes. “Sorry…” 

“No, don’t apologize. Like I said, I like you too.” 

Niall groans. “Please, don’t lie to me like that. I know tonnes of people like you and I’m just one of them…..admiring you from distance….” He admits quietly, staring at his shoes again. 

“What can I do to make you believe me?” Zayn asks. 

Niall shrugs and shakes his head. Then he glances up to look at the other boy. “Nothing. I’m sorry, I’ll be out of your hair now. I promise I won’t bother you again.” He says, starting to turn around again, but before he can do that, his body is turned around and slammed onto Zayn’s. He can’t even start to protest the action when the other boy starts to kiss him. Niall’s eyes widen and he squeals airily into Zayn’s mouth, too shock about the kiss. He finally give in when Zayn’s hand makes his way to the back of his head, deepening their kiss. 

“Fucking finally!!!” Niall hears someone shouts from the other side of the class and it doesn't matter if anyone can see his blushing cheeks because at the moment, Zayn Malik is kissing him and it’s like a dream comes true. 

“So, like I asked before, have you seen my notebook?” Zayn asks, once they pull away, leaning their foreheads together. Niall shakes his head and Zayn grins before he reaches down to grab his notebook. Then he starts to flip it through, and pulls Niall closer to look at the content. 

Niall’s eyes widen. “Is that…is that me?” He asks, in mixture of disbelieving and amazement as he looks at the sketches in the notebook. Zayn nods, flipping the pages and most of the pages consist of Niall’s face and eyes. Niall blushes furiously as he gazes at Zayn again. “So, you…like..me too?” 

Zayn nods. “I like you so much that I practically bribing the whole class to fill up the back row so that I have an excuse to sit beside you,” he tells Niall, blushing slightly at the admission. 

Niall gasps in surprise, before he glances around to see all his classmates are grinning at them. Some of the boys wolf-whistled and some of the girls are even cooing and keeps telling them that they look cute together. Niall shakes his head, before he turns his head to look at Zayn again. Then he starts to pull Zayn’s face closer, “and now you really have an excuse to sit beside me again,” he says before he starts to kiss the other boy happily.

**Author's Note:**

> Title taken from The Paper Kites - Bloom


End file.
